Hosiery and method of forming same



United States Patent y HOSIERY AND METHOD F FORMING SAME John C.Bnckreus, Hobart, Ind., assignor to Bear Brand Hosiery Cot, Kankakee,Ill., a corporation of )illinois Applicationtlanuary14,11955, Serial No.481,737

8 Claims. (Cl..66-1'85) This invention relatesV to .rimprovements inwomens hosieryand tits purposefis toprovide hosiery having an yimprovedshaped footandto prov-idea novel kmethod `of forming such hosiery. Moreparticularly, the; purpose of theinvention isto providehosiery having.heel and-toe portions `which are comparativelyfthin or sheer .and whichare free of visible seams.

Itis the present fashion in certain'types of Womens shoes to provideopen heel vand-toe portions through which thehosiery is visible. vWomenshosiery has not heretofore been satisfactory for use with these .shoestyles ,because of its unsatisfactory appearancein thoseareas.

For'example, full'fashioned hosiery has seams extending longitudinallyaround the heel andbeneath the foot yand toe portions, kthus resultingin seamswhich are `visible when lthe hosiery lis worn.Similarly,.seamlessihosiery requires av looping operation toclosethe'toe 'opening with resulting visible seams. Withvcircularknit.hosieryitis necessary` to use` airelatively heavy nylonyarn in fthe-'toeportion in order to provide a fabric heavy'enoughto facilitate andreducethefcost of the looping operation-and a heavieryarny has also been usedin the heelportions.- in

orderfto increase` lthe wearingqualities and tofgiveza symmetrical`appearance :to the footportionA as-rafwhole.

The types of hosiery -just referred .to have. not been -sui-table forwear with shoes having 'openheels'andtoes .because Yof-the visible seamsand.y the `relatively .thick `fabric in theheel andtoe portions.

The principal-object ofthe present. invention is to provideimprovedwomensihosiery. having` heel and toe portions-which are thin'andfree ofvisibleseams. A further object is to provide hosiery -having V-afoot-portion-which `is. closed by. seaming before its shape has,beenimparted thereto. 4Another objectistoY form hosiery havinga fullfashioned.- foot bysan improvedimethod comprisingzithe stepsfoflknitting aseamless tube, closing thefend of thev tube by a seam, -andfthen `.molding and `shapinga` foot portion with the seam locatedentirely on the bottom of the footaportio'nfso that itis not-visiblewhen `the stocking is worn. Still-another object-of theninvention is toprovide an improved method of forming hosiery with the elimination ,-ofthe `time vconsuming and costlyt looping operation'- which- 4hasnheretofore "been necessary.' 'Dther objects 1relate' to various-features lof the improved 'hosiery and to-,de'tails-"ofetheimprovedmethod whichgwilliappear f'nio'refullythereinafter. v Y Y n j" `f Theria-turef of `the'invention-willbe.understoodfrom.

ZZZS .Patented Mar.- 4, 15958 Figshows a side elevationof the tubeillustrated in Fig. v1 afterthe lower end thereof has been closed by-acurvedvline of stitching and after-the lower portion. of the tubethasbeen cut off below the stitching;

Fig. 4 shows'a side elevation of a stocking forrnhaving the tubeshown inFig. 3 applied thereto, after it has been trimmed, for the purposev ofimparting the shape-of the finished :hosiery to the tube preliminary ltoa setting operation;

Fig. 5 shows an enlarged sectional viewtaken on Ythe line 5 5 of Fig. 4;v

Fig. 6 lshows a `perspective view of the bottom ,of the foot of .thestocking when being worn, illustrating vthe location of the .seam withrespect to Athe footfof the wearer; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective View of the toevportion of a vmodified form ofthe invention in which the'toe portion is reinforced.

In theipracticeof the present invention the first step consists inknitting from` nylon yarn or the-like on a circular `knitting machine aseamless tube 10, shown in Fig. al, -whichaisgpreferably slightlytaperedtoward the bottom. For illustration, the tube 10 may be 40 inches longandvhave-a width of 7 `inches at the top Vas compared with a-widthofvinches at thefbottom. In knitting the tube 110, thebodyportion 10a. ispreferably knitted from ne yarnsuch as l5denier yarn and the tube isprovided atfthe top withza doubleweltltbb and a shadow Welt 10c whichare formed offheavier yarn. `The tube 1l) is also preferablyv providedat'the bottom with a toe welt 10d which is. formed of yarn heavier thanthe yarn'used in vknitting the body portion lim in order to limitorfovercome the tendency of the tube to curl upat `the bottom.A.551denier yarn may preferably be employedV inknitting thetoewelty10a'. The tube 10a is provided on opposite sides of one edge 1te,'whenthe tube is laid'fiat,with two seriesfof tuck stitches l which arelocated on opposite sides of the foldline 10e in order toindicatefthe'proper location of this fold `line when the tube is laidflatffafter knitting. Another series of tuck stitches12 :are providedonV opposite sidesof the'fold line 10e in the toe welt 10d -so that theoperator can determine the proper location of the fold line throughoutthe length of theattened tube.

After the tube 10 has beenknitted andv laidflat with the fold'line 1deproperly located bythe tuckvstitches 11 and 12, a template 13 Yformed ofsheetfmetal, cardboard ior the like,.is laid on the attened tube withthe tipof its `lower curved surface 13a located adjacentto vthe upperAedge of the toe welt 10d. A mark isthen drawn on the tube along the edge13a to indicatethe` line of the stitching which is thenemployed.to'closethetube. A seaming machine is ,then employed toz formadiagonal curvedline` of stitching V14 *along ther-mark lwhich-'has beenplaced on the tube withfthe use of the .template 13 and-.at thesame timethe portion lf of the tube-beneath ltheline of stitching is cutolfby'the .machine, leaving portions of the sewing thread.'projectingtat.opposite ends of the seam.

.Havingiclosed thesend of the Vtubetlllby :the seam 14, .the tube .isthen fpreset, in-fk a Yclosed steam; chamberr 'for approximately liveminutes at a temperature'ofaboutiZOS Fahrenheit. This presettingoperation may be performed with the tube suspended in a loose unstressedcondition and the result of this presetting operation is primarily tolock the stitches of the line of seaming 14 so that the tube may then betrimmed along the seam. This is done manually during the inspection ofthe tube and the projecting ends 15 of the sewing thread are then cutoff. After the inspection and trimming of the tube 1t? it is placed upona hosiery form 16 in the form of a fiat plate having the proper edgeconformation to impart to the tube 10 the shape of the finished hosieryas i1` assente of the form, as illustrated in Fig. 5. The forwardextremity 14a of the seam is located rearwardly of the extreme tip ofthe toe portion of the form, as shown in Fig. 4, and the seam shouldpreferably be of such length that the other extremity 14b thereofterminates forwardly of the heel portion 17 c.

When the tube has been positioned on the to impart to it the shape ofthe iinished hosiery 17, the form with the tube mounted thereon isplaced in a steam chamber and subjected to the action of saturated steamform 16 t i at a temperature of about 260 F. and at a pressure of about28 pounds per square inch for a period Aof one minute. This results inpermanently setting the knitted seamless tube in the form of thefinished hosiery 17 with the heel portion 17c, the foot portion 17d, andthe toe portion 17e molded to the shape of the form 16. During thissetting operation the form 16 is, of course, normally located in aninverted position as compared with that shown in Fig. 4.

After the setting of the hosiery 17 on the form 16 it is stripped fromthe form and is dyed in a liquid dye bath at a temperature ofapproximately 180 F. After the dyeing operation, the hosiery is placedagain upon a hosiery form of the required shape and is subjected to afinal boarding operation at a temperature of about 250 F., thusresulting in the finished stocking which is then stripped from the finalboarding form.

The foregoing process results in the production from a seamless tubeknitted on a circular knitting machine of a stocking having a fashionedshape including a fashioned foot portion which is seamless except forthe seam 14 which is located on the bottom of the foot por tion so thatit is located entirely beneath the foot 1S of the wearer, as illustratedinFig. 6, and terminates short of the extreme toe portion of the foot18. In this way there is produced a fashioned stocking which has heel vand toe portions which are as thin and sheer as the body portion andwhich may be worn with shoes having open toes and heels withoutrevealing any part of the single seam 14 which is located beneath thefoot.

If desired a heavier yarn may be employed in knitting the lower part ofthe tube 10a adjacent to the `toe welt 10d so that the` toe of thestocking will be reinforced by yarn of heavier gauge, as shown at 19a inFig. 7, where the foot portion19d of the stocking is otherwise the sameas that shown in Fig. 4.,

Although one form of the improved stocking with a modification of thetoe portion thereof has been shown and described in connection with theexplanation of one method of practicing the improved process, it will beunderstood that both the hosiery and the method may be modified invarious ways without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A stocking having only one seam which is located` entirely on theunder side of itsfoot portion and extends longitudinally thereof.

2. A stocking having leg, ankle, heel, foot and toe portions, all ofsaid portions being knit from a single yarn, said stocking being closedafter knitting by a single seam which is located entirely on the bottomof said foot portion and extends longitudinally thereof.

3. A stocking having leg, ankle, heel, foot and toe portions, all ofsaid portions being knit from a single yarn, said stocking being closedafter knitting by a single longitudinal seam which is located entirelyon the bottom of said foot portion, said seam beginning rearwardly ofthe tip of said toe portion.

4. A stocking having leg, ankle, heel, foot and toe portions, all ofsaid portions being knit from a single yarn, said stocking being closedafter knitting by a single seam which is located entirely on the bottomof said foot portion, said seam beginning rearwardly of the tip of saidtoe portion and terminating adjacent the forward margin of said heelportion.

5. The method of forming a stocking which comprises the steps ofknitting a seamless tube, closing one end of said tube by a diagonalcurved seam and cutting off the end portion of the tube outside of saidseam, placing said closed tube on a hosiery form, and setting said tubeon said form to impart thereto permanently the shape of said form.

6. The method of forming a stocking which comprises the steps ofknitting a seamless tube, closing one end of said tube by a diagonalcurved seam and cutting off the` end portion of the tube outside of saidseam, placing said closed tube on a hosiery form, setting said tube onsaid form to impart thereto permanently the shape of said form, dyeingthe set fabric, and then subjecting the resulting stocking to a finalboarding and setting step.

7. The method of forming a stocking which comprises the steps ofknitting a seamless tube from a single yarn,

closing one end of said tube by a curved seam and cutting off the endportion of the tube outside of said seam, placing said closed tube on ashaped hosiery form having a foot portion with said seam located on theunder side of said foot portion and with the forward end of said seamdisplaced rearwardly from the tip of said foot portion, and then settingsaid closed tube on said form to impart to said tube permanently theshape of said form.

8. The method of forming a stocking which comprises the steps ofknitting a seamless tube from a single yarn, closing one end of saidtube by a curved seam and cutting olf the end portion of the tubeoutside of said seam, placing said closed tube on a shaped form having afoot portion which includes a heel portion and a toe portion with saidseam located on the under side of said foot portion, the forward end ofsaid seam being displaced rearwardly of the tip of said toe portion andthe rear end of said seam being located forwardly of said heel portion,and then setting said closed tube on `said form to impart to said tubepermanently the shape of said form.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,841,205 Page et al. Ian. 12, 1932 2,157,119 Miles May 9, 19392,695,507 Tew Nov. 30, 1954 2,699,056 Margulies Jan. 1l, 1955 2,709,353Poole May 3l, 1955 2,740,279 Getaz Apr. 3, 1956

